Downtown Eugene

Monday, August 20, 2007

In Today's Register-Guard, an editorial excoriated the Eugene City Council's willingness to change the substance of the referendum on the Gas Tax.

But the wildly anti-democratic nature, of the Eugene City Staff and current council majority, runs far deeper. At its core, the City is not driven by the surveyed needs of the citizens. It's driven by the agendas of the most powerful businesses and institutions in town. These agendas are of course unrelated to Public Benefit. They tend towards projects that are massive, wasteful, anti-life, and enriching of the wealthy class.

How do we approach the reform of a fundamentally corrupted City Hall? Well, the right steps are already being taken: cut their funding. This is the subject of both referenda in November, and the message is clear: we don't trust you. The Gas Tax referendum is explicit -- people don't trust the City to spend a nickel, literally.

If we cut their funding enough, they won't even be able to spin the illusion that they are doing something for us. They will then start to work differently, in small, transparent increments, so the public can judge how effective their actions are.